Digital television broadcasts now reach tens of millions of receivers worldwide. The current generation of Digital Television (DTV) receivers, primarily cable and satellite set-top-boxes (STB), generally offer limited resources to applications. The next generation of DTV receivers will be more flexible for application development. Receivers are becoming more powerful through the use of faster processors, larger memory, 3D graphics hardware and disk storage.
Broadcasters distribute monolithic video programming, in which all of the presentation graphics, transitions, and special effects have been pre-composited in the studio or post-production suite to form a single video stream. This monolithic video presentation is well suited to the uniform broadcast of traditional narrative TV shows but may not be adequate programming for the newly emerging interactive DTV technology.
Several broadcasters have developed systems capable of inserting registered graphics into live video. These systems are typically targeted towards sports broadcasts and use a combination of camera tracking and object tracking technologies. For example, using positional data obtained from IR transmitters in hockey pucks, visual enhancements such as glows or streaks can be rendered where the hockey puck appears in the video frame. More recently, another broadcaster has developed a system for rendering a virtual “1st and 10” line now used in many NFL broadcasts. Another form of graphics enhancement, also targeted towards sports broadcasts, is the insertion of images (typically advertising logos) registered to physical surfaces at the event site (e.g., the playing field, existing billboards).
However, as broadcasters consider bringing viewer interaction to the TV, it becomes clear that something beyond the existing “burned onto videotape” content model is needed. One contemporary approach is to transmit and layer “web graphic” overlays on top of the monolithic video signal. Unfortunately, the results usually ends up looking more like a computer monitor than a TV show, failing to live up to the full-motion video experience familiar to a life-long television audience.
Emerging digital media standards like Advanced Television Standard Committee (ATSC) provide the means of transmitting the necessary data streams to consumer platforms. There is a need for a new approach to the emerging new medium of interactive television by employing a more integral, content-driven analysis, the goal of which is to produce interactive content that delivers and extends the rich media aesthetics of the existing television content, while leveraging the late-composition advantages of web-based delivery.